I actually saw this in 8th grade in Mrs. Cochran's class (Mrs. Cochran was an amazing US history teacher by the way). Anyways, watching it again reminded me of a lot of things.

First of all, I think it was a little shocking to hear some of the words that kids used very casually, as if it were no big deal. Whereas today, if we used those derogatory slurs in a classroom, there would be an outbreak from both teachers and students of shock and disgust.

Secondly, I think it was a really interesting approach to educate children about racism in a simple way that they could understand. A lot of kids were sad that they couldn't play with their friends that they had built relationships with because they were brown or blue eyed. A lot of kids didn't understand why they had to be separated, much like a lot of kids of different races didn't know why they had to be separated from kids, and their friends. It makes me think of the book we read today when Richard made friends with a white girl, but they had to keep it a secret and they still didn't fully grasp why.

All in all, I think that it's a totally different scale when you're talking to kids. Because kids are very innocent, but they are also very matter-of-fact. So, if a child has something on their mind, they'll say it! But if a child is taught to have certain things on their mind, it can be harmful. So, showing these kids what racism means on a level that was easy for them to understand was very clever! They're just thinking "Well, just because our eye color is different doesn't mean I'm better than them." and that kind of thinking will(hopefully) lead to them applying that kind of thinking to any and all differences!

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Sophia C.

2/12/2014 08:57:07 am

I had heard about this experiment before from my parents and I forget where I saw it but I also had seen it before now. I don't remember what I thought exactly the first time I saw it, but now I kept wondering what about the people without either of those color eyes?
This thought led me down a road of thinking about how, if there were any green eyed people for example, they would feel, not knowing where they were in this scale. Would they have been relieved that they were left out of it? Confused? Unsure of themselves? Would they have thought their uniqueness made them better, or worse? Or maybe neither.
While watching these videos it also struck me, not that these kids tuned into vicious little monsters, but that it only took a matter of fifteen minutes or so. At such a formative age it's extremely alarming to see just how quickly someones entire outlook on others can be changed for the worse.
This entire process also made me think of the Nazi Youth. They took young children and taught them they were better than others or worse as the case may be. This separation caused friends to be cruel to one another, to hate each other.
It just goes to show just how easy it can be to teach hate to children instead of love. Of course in the end it helped these children learn to be less prejudiced but it can easily not have been taken away. Those feelings of hatred could have been left there and they would have grown up with a completely different outlook.

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Sophia C.

2/12/2014 08:59:04 am

*before FROM my parents...

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Ysabella Dawson

2/12/2014 11:58:23 am

I also thought about green-eyed people while watching the video, and I thought it was kind of sad and alarming how fast the kids turned on each-other.

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Tyler Felix

2/12/2014 09:29:57 am

This was my second time watching this mini documentary, and I was still shocked to watch what those 3rd grade students turned into. Even at the start of the video when the boys were saying the "N" word casually, as if it was no big deal, was shameful.
It was also fascinating how wearing that blue collar let the kids down. They felt so unappreciated that they would put their heads down and not be able to concentrate. But as soon as those collars came off, they were able to learn, and be more superior.
The only thing I was questioning during the video was, what if there was a kid with green eyes? Then what would happen to that person? would they be discriminated too? I think it would also be interesting to see what the parent's reactions to this video look like. Would they be disappointed? Shocked? Or fine with it?

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Salina Brice

2/12/2014 12:09:43 pm

Great reflection, I was wondering the same thing about kids with green eyes, maybe they would be lumped into the blue eyed group?

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Sophia Kormanik

2/12/2014 09:46:53 am

Think-Feel-Wonder
What I thought about the video was this teacher was amazing for the way she taught those children about discrimination. She didn't talk about it she did it in a way that would really impact the students so they would remember for years to come. When I was watching it you could tell that the kids were really nice but when it came to being categorized as (brown eyed or blue eyed) it was a different story. The students stared calling people names and being plain mean to one another. I wonder why teachers don't teach exercises like what Mrs. Elliot did to teach students about serious topics.

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Katie C

2/12/2014 10:07:49 am

I also have seen this frontline before and often think of it when then class covers the Civil Rights movement. This peace has always made me think of how different the entire country would be if this exercise was a required part of every third grade teachers curriculum. With every child learning how awful it is to be discriminated against from such an early age they would hopefully grow up more accepting than if they hand't participated in the activity.

This lesson teaches children how horrible it is to be discriminated against because of a physical attribute they can't change, such as skin and eye color. its this kind of teaching style that can lead to accepting and well rounded citizens. This video made me think about what I would be like if I had gone through such an experiment at that age. As of now I am as in-discriminatory as I can be but one can't help but wonder if they would turn out differently after an activity like the one in the video.

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Brianna Barboza

2/12/2014 10:33:03 am

I remember seeing this video not too long ago! I believe it was in the 8th grade? Anyway, this video just shows a lot to kids how much they take for granted, for example, nowadays, they don't have to worry about their skin color/eye color/hair color/etc. and in this video, the teacher taught the kids about the civil rights through having them EXPERIENCE a similar event. Kids couldn't sit next to their friends and some were "superior" to others. It didn't take long for the children to react the same way the civilians reacted during the civil rights movement.

It's pretty interesting because I don't recall being taught racism (or any discrimination actions) in grade school - in fact, I learned what it was the hard way by accidentally insulting someone of a different ethnicity in the 6th grade. It just seemed like we were kind of "expected" to know this stuff. I didn't think the "N" word was bad until I reached 7th grade, when someone hushed me on it and explained what it meant (I thought it was another way of saying "buddy" or "pal"). It was a bit refreshing seeing this video again - I suppose it reminds us of what we take for granted.

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Lance Shuler

2/12/2014 10:39:57 am

This video truly struck me and also frightened me a bit. I thought that the experiment was a very strange one to test on kids, but also one that could teach them. I was disturbed at the fact that the kids all didn't have a problem discriminating each other. Just when she said "ok guys, blue eyed people are better than brown eyed people, that's that." It scared me how fast they adapted to it, and how it shows how easy discrimination can be. They were already calling each other names, and fighting each other. It makes me feel that this is easy to get through peoples minds. They tested it the second day and switched who was better, and now brown eyed people are better than blue eyed people. This caused things to go opposite, and now people with brown eyes had control. This showed that revenge doesn't make things better. And in the end, it doesn't matter what you are on the outside, it is what's in the inside that counts. And although this is easy to mislead, it is easy to fix. I wonder though how kids do who have parents that discriminate. Do they pick up on this fast?

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Crystal Delgado

2/12/2014 10:40:18 am

Like Sarah, I too was shown this in Mrs. Cochran's class. I think it's unique the way the teacher covered the subject because, especially with young children, they often don't grasp how horrible things like this were. They think 'it's bad' but since it has nothing to do with them, they often write it off. I feel this was a perfect wayto tackle it, especially with the way she said blue eyed people were better than brown eyed people and then flipped it so that she reversed what she had said before. Some of the kids thought it was unfair, but they were the ones being mean in the beginning and they don't like it when the tables are turned. This makes me wonder if this could work on adults as well. I know a lot of the time you are raised beliving certain things and it sticks with you sometimes. What if something liket his experiment was done to adults in order to see if it would have an effect one them. Maybe not as simple as this, but similar.

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Quentin Jackson

2/12/2014 10:56:43 am

I just find it insane just how easy it is for these third grader's to turn against their friends from yesterday, just because of the way the teacher treats them. I remember in 9th grade, mr. tuazon did a similar thing, with a test where he gave the girls a test with gibberish, and refused to answer the question's they asked. My mom also told me there was a similar experiment in high school, which I am quite curious about.

Overall, this program is really well made, sticking with the kids for a long time. I wonder how this would work nowadays, if it would be as effective or if people would not actually learn anything from it.

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Paris Gramann

2/12/2014 02:46:26 pm

Hmm.. I wonder if this specific topic would be as effective as it was when this was closer in the heart of society, if we did it today, like you said..? What other topics could you connect an experiment like this to?

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Malia M.

2/12/2014 11:03:27 am

I had heard of this video before but never watched it. The teacher's progressiveness for her time and her lesson was fascinating. Honestly, the way the kids quickly turned on each other didn't surprise me. History and examples show again and again that humans will forget old friendships to be swept up in new waves of popular opinion and hate. Every genocide there ever was shows the magnetic quality of hate. The book Lord of the Flies examines how fast people can leave behind morality. It is actually really depressing.

The video was very interesting. I wonder how/why it was filmed. The lesson was so beneficial because the students easily understood it. The older reflecting students were still slightly socially programmed to be racist but they were hyper aware and tried not to judge people by ethnicity. The kept asserting they had experienced discrimination firsthand but I thought that was strange because they really hadn't. A three day simulation is really hardly anything. It just goes to show how shut their eyes were to the problem of discrimination.

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Rachel Deaton

2/12/2014 11:06:16 am

I really enjoyed these videos. It was so clever of the teacher to put both the children in that awkward position. It gave them a taste of what it feels like to be discriminated against. I think that is what people really need to think about. How it feels to be treated terribly, so that more people will stand up for each other. We should all know how it feels and fight for our brothers and sisters who are struggling. Watching other people suffer is selfish and should be changed to being there for them. This teacher was just, brilliant! I have watched these videos before but I loved watching them again to see their reactions and experience my feelings as well!

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Salina Brice

2/12/2014 12:11:22 pm

Wonderful reflection/thoughts on the video, I too think it was extremely important that the kids experienced both sides of the situation.

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Preston Royal

2/12/2014 11:23:55 am

When I watched these 3 videos, I felt very moved by the teachers motivation to inform these kids that discrimination is a terrible thing. It was astounding how in such a short time the kids minds were changed into thinking that blue eyed people were better than brown eyed people. The way that they thought about the other kids next to them in a matter of minutes was unbelievable. I THINK that these videos really showed how a persons mind can be changed by someone else's. I FEEL that when someone's mind is changed that drastically, it is only the opinion of someone who the person admires, that can change an opinion that fast. I THINK this is especially true in younger children due to curiosity and the believe that older people are usually honest. I WONDER if these kids children were exposed to this powerful lesson, because i think that it is something that should be explain to everyone.

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Gage Gamboa

2/12/2014 11:27:26 am

Think: I thought it was so interesting how the reactions of the boy in the white sweater (in part two) were constantly changing. At times he displayed facial expressions of pure disgust and hostility. At the end of the experiment when they were told to take off their collars, his expression was joyous.

Feel: I feel hopeful after watching the video, after seeing how the kids responded to "walking in someone else's moccasins". It is interesting to see just how malleable kids really are. It is saddening to think of how many kids were influenced by different ideals, those of hate and bigotry. The video should serve as an example of how important it is to teach kids the right values (a subjective term, of course) when they are young.

Wonder: I wonder about the kids who went through the experiment, but turned out to be racist and hateful. I wonder about the other external influences on their lives that prompted such ideals.

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Meranda

2/12/2014 11:29:46 am

I had heard of this experiment before, and seen clips, but never have seen these full clips of the documentary. I think it was extremely shocking how in just one day the kids took the fact that brown eyes were worse immediately. I know she was teaching these kids a valuable lesson, and I actually think this was a really interesting experiment. But within minutes they discriminated against their friends and classmates. This shows that human nature always wants to be better than other people. But then again, in the end they learned from their mistakes. They were friends again, and proved that no matter what someone looks like they were the same and shouldn't be discriminated against. I also thought chapter three was extremely interesting! I hadn't seen that clip yet, and hearing the now grown up kids reactions and the improvement they made in character, learning how to not judge people by skin color or eye color is incredible.

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Carly

2/12/2014 11:32:36 am

Watching this video again(we were shown it in Ms DeLuca's class in 8th grade) made me wonder why this isn't a more widespread thing. I think its amazing how the lesson has stuck with these people for so many years, and how completely they are moved by it. I completely agree with them when they say that it should be integrated into education at a very young age, because I really think it would be effective. There is no way to make the message of discrimination more clear than to force someone into that situation, which is exactly what this is doing.

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Ysabella Dawson

2/12/2014 11:53:40 am

I think that you're right, and that in a society where segregation or things of that nature are present, children have to be taught what is right at a young age.

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Ysabella Dawson

2/12/2014 11:52:20 am

Perspective: I thought that there were a lot of very interesting perspectives in this video. The entire class is full of white children, who even at very young ages are completely comfortable calling African Americans the N-word. They had no idea that segregation was bad or wrong, since they had been raised in a society where they were taught that segregation is normal and right. Then, when suddenly half of them were better than the others, and they were no longer equal, friends turned on friends, and the “superior” students teased and fought with their “lesser” classmates. Then the roles were reversed, so each child got a taste of the tyranny of segregation. Their perspectives were forever changed, and hopefully by going through that lesson they became more aware of the people around them and opposed segregation.

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Meilani

2/12/2014 12:06:37 pm

I thought that it was astonishing how fast she established the superior 'race', from the very beginning when there was resistance, she quickly shot it down with twisted logic. The kids on the bottom looked completely beaten down by the end of their day as the others quickly had the superiority affect their behaviors, which goes to show that character is revealed when they're holding power. It was also interesting that a positive change of setting had improved their results in work. I feel that if everyone had gone through this experience as a child during that time, racism would have dwindled much faster. I wonder how this experiment might have gone if she had done it in another country to other children or adults.

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Salina Brice

2/12/2014 12:13:27 pm

Great reflection, I agree about the twisted. It was really interesting how she used class room situation specifically to make her point, like when the one boy forget his glasses.

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Karen Barragan

2/12/2014 12:07:35 pm

Significance-
This video shows how when even for a second, high authority is placed over someone, they take advantage of it; there is a difference between authority and power. In this case, the children went against their friends, and for a second believed they were better because of their colored eyes. Even for the smallest thing as in "Blue eyed people are better," kids set aside all of their morals, what they had grown up with, and were influenced by an ignorant statement. Even after the brown eyed kids were being mistreated, the next day when they were told they were better, they treated the other kids the same. I found that interesting because if I were in that position, after feeling what it was like, I don't know if I would have done it to someone else, regardless of what they had done to me. I wonder what they would have done if instead of "blue eyed kids are better than brown eyed kids" it was something more serious, with a greater consequence.

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Salina Brice

2/12/2014 12:07:54 pm

I had heard of this study before, but watching this documentary made me think about all the prejudices we still hold against people today. Discrimination has decreased since then, but still without even knowing it we are always judging people based on their physical features. It was shocking to see how quickly the children turned on each other. I wonder if this experience would have the same effects and results on a different age group, such as high school students. I feel doing something like this with high students would be a really interesting to see and compare their actions to the ones of these kids in the video.

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Anthony Williams

2/12/2014 12:15:53 pm

I felt as if this was a powerful tool that is absolutely ingenious in design, because it was so simplistic, yet impacting, and like it was said at the end, they learned what it felt like to discriminate, and they also learned what it felt like to be discriminated against. This video left me in awe over how the simplest lessons and what is seen as an authority figure could greatly influence a group of people. It really opened my eyes to how social influences greatly swayed opinion of the individual, and how that could be so easily changed, once you were put in the other person's shoes. It made me really think as to how a lot of situations and events could have gone over differently if this was taught to more people at an early age, and even at later ages.

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Cole Sargent

2/12/2014 12:27:49 pm

While watching this film I was absolutely astounded by the results of the experiment, not only during the actual duration of the study where students who were normally friends were torn apart from one another in mere minutes based on eye colour, but the long-lasting effect it had on the students. Over two decades later they had retained the ideals taught by Mrs. Elliot, and frequently expressed the desire to put other people through the same experiment so that they could better understand discrimination. I also connected the study to the Holocaust, as I imagined a scenario where these weren’t third graders, but grown adults, and I thought that with a radical figure it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to see similar results to what happened to Jewish people in Nazi Germany. Also, the fact that so many Americans, even in the modern age, flaunt discriminating perspectives suggests that very little is being done similar to what Mrs. Elliot attempted. I feel like if the education system simply included more activities like this one, we might see young people take a significantly different outlook on social activism than the negative view that is omnipresent today, with hate groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church, and a political environment characterized by hatred and radicalism.

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Vivian Mason

2/12/2014 12:37:05 pm

This is the second time I have watched this lesson. However it was just as mind blowing as the first time. For kids not old enough to even know proper cursive they understand racism and how terrible it is better than most adults at the time and adults plus youths today. After watching Mrs. Elliot make such a memorable imprint on these students live I began to wonder what would happen if this was tried today in 2014. Would lawsuits arise? Would the youths of today understand? Asking myself these questions I also wondered do youths today need this lesson? Do adults? My answer is yes. There is still discrimination, maybe not of African Americans but gays are discriminated daily all around the globe. So yes, this lesson should be taught to kids so that they understand the Holocaust, the Civil Rights movement and the modern day Gay Rights Movement. If this lesson was taught to all children then maybe, hopefully, in the future rights movements would be for ending world hunger or world poverty not something that is unchangeable like your skin color, religion or love life.

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Jackson Walker

2/12/2014 01:08:41 pm

I'm really glad we got to watch this video for our homework. I have heard about this activity for a long time- the first time when I was in about 6th grade I think- and I have always been curios as to the specifics of what actually went on.

Feel
Some of the things that really stuck out to me form the start was the fact that the schoolteacher seemed very good at her job. I think that this kind of activity could not be held in an environment that was not as controlled or as suggestible as it was, and the teacher provided the students with confidence towards these fake basis' of discrimination. What's interesting is that even though the kids could perhaps intuitively know none of it was real, that there was something temporary and fallacious about it, but still they fell into the practice of the implications. Even though the probably knew all along that blue eyed people weren't really better (for the first day), they still acted the part, especially if they had blue eyes.

What I found despairingly satirical was the fact that even though these kids were simple minded 3rd graders, they reflect the action of the contemporary society before the 1960's movement. It goes to show that human nature doesn't have an age. They used the knowledge of others' disadvantages to put them down in attempt the perhaps bring themselves up.

I think it would be interesting to be a part of this experiment. From the first time I heard about it until tonight I still feel drawn to understand more and be a part of it. I don't really think it would be possible to do this experiment, not only because we are too old now, but also the liability of the matter.

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Xochitl Aguinaga

2/12/2014 01:49:32 pm

I agree that it would be interesting to participate/conduct in some kind of experiment similar to this one.

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Abby Thompson

2/12/2014 01:12:47 pm

Even though I've seen these videos several times in the past, I'm always amazed at how much can be learned/realized from this short lesson the teacher taught. I thought it was interesting how throughout the lesson, the kids would change their personalities/opinions on whatever eye color was "better" that day, and would overall walk in the shoes of people who had a different skin color. After listening to the discussion between the adults at the end, it made me wonder why lessons aren't being taught in more schools today, whether it be on racial discrimination, religious discrimination, or gay rights and would most probably have a positive impact for the thoughts/opinions of kids of future generations.

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Sarah Olson

2/12/2014 01:15:11 pm

THINK - I was also one of the students who saw this video a few years ago. It really struck me at the time because it showed how ridiculous segregation is and how seriously it affected people. Honestly I thought that the teacher's idea to do the activity was brilliant. A demonstration like that is essential to help students understand why the civil rights movement matters. If you don't stand up for others, who will be there to stand up for you?

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Lisa Valtierra

2/12/2014 01:18:23 pm

This is actually my second time watching this video. I watched this video when I was a lot younger, so my thoughts have definitely changed on how I view it now. After seeing that video in class about how the younger generation of African Americans started the change for African Americans everywhere, it has really opened my eyes to view the younger generation and the difference they can make in the world. It is incredible that putting someone as "superior" really effects how they view themselves and how they go about trying to achieve goals.This also started to get me thinking about why we don't learn about the younger generation of history.Before today in class, I had never heard of the young kids that helped move the African America freedom strive. So, I started thinking about other movements we've learned about this year, and if there were any kids that helped make those movements possible.

This also made me think about how ideas are implanted in kids heads and that's what changes the future (ex. the Hitler Youth were raised to believe that Hitler was superior and that his beliefs that Jewish people should be killed). Something that also got my attention was when they asked the boy why he was so mean to one to his class mates and he said, "It's like I could get back for everything he had done to me before," but what that made me think about was, what did the blacks ever do to white people to make them hate them so much? That part didn't make any sense to me once I tried to think about it.

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Xochitl Aguinaga

2/12/2014 01:37:40 pm

Great reflection, I love how you connected it to the civil rights video we saw in class today.

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Xochitl Aguinaga

2/12/2014 01:45:56 pm

I had seen this video before, and it still resonates with me as it did in the past.The process of discrimination and elitism, is a simple as some one just stating they are better. I believe these types of lessons in the classroom are imperative to truly understand the importance of respecting the rights of all. The experiment the teacher conducted, reminds me of the deeper learning mooc I am participating in for honors, and how past and present teachers are making advancements in integrating deeper learning.

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Rachel Maristela

2/12/2014 01:47:55 pm

This is my first time watching this video and to be honest, it really shocked and impressed me. The teacher knew that discrimination is the most common thing that an individual would do everyday, and she knew that she had to do something to not let her young students grow up to be one of those people. Her idea of this experiment really impressed me. She took action and also felt like she saved her students from becoming a person full of hate. It surprised me that at a really young age, you already know the different terms to call a black person, and also once you feel how it is like to be one of those people who are being discriminated against, the innocence inside of you turns into anger and hate, and the classroom suddenly turns into something like the Hitler Youth (ex. one day the brown eyes were the Jews and the blue eyes were the Hitler Youth, then the next day it was switched around). What really made me smile was a couple of years later, the children are all grown up; married and probably already have kids, and took the opportunity to reunite again as adults and still discuss the lesson they were taught. They really took their 3rd grade teacher's lesson throughout their lives and accepted everyone around them because they knew that people are only different inside, but not outside.

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Christopher Bargman

2/12/2014 01:50:15 pm

-Feel-
Like many of my classmates, I had seen this in the past, and I felt more sick to my stomach than I did the first time. Now that I can fully comprehend what is happening, it brings a whole new meaning to me. It was a lesson through experience for the children and I feel like it taught them the lesson better than any lecture could have. However, to watch these seemingly innocent children act so terribly to each other because of something as meaningless as the color of your eyes, felt absurd to myself.

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Andrew Ledezma

2/12/2014 01:56:34 pm

Think- I thought that this was an extremely insightful social experiment on behalf of the teacher. This was also a very bold move by the teacher because of the contraversial teaching method. I think that this sort of unorthodox, yet effective teaching style would be somewhat hard to pull of this day in age. In the class reflections, one of the students said that it was so easy to let all previous aggressions on the brown eyed students. This is a great illustration on how easily you can take advantage of people when they are already down, and to generalize people.

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Tess Herzog

2/12/2014 02:02:25 pm

Think:
I thought this was one of the most unique and effective ways of teaching racism that I have ever seen. I thought it was crazy how the views of the children changed the moment they were deemed a higher status. Today, we teach that racism is bad, but the minute these children were “better”, they began to think of themselves more highly, look down upon the others, tease the children who were “inferior”.
Feel:
Watching this made me feel nervous. I couldn’t believe how 3rd graders’ attitudes changed given a different status so quickly. If the mind of a child can be changed so drastically and so rapidly, it shows us what can happen with an entire society. It’s crazy to think how people could believe such a ridiculous idea, and change their ways so fast based on a lie someone tells them.
Wonder:
I wonder how many teachers since have used this method to teach racism. Many teachers may be nervous about doing an activity such as this, but I think it is worth it.

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Trevin Kraus

2/12/2014 02:03:34 pm

I really enjoyed watching this video again. I had seen it many years ago in 8th grade and yet I continue to learn stuff that I did not pick up on the first time. I feel that this is a very important video/book because it shows how easily people can persuaded and manipulated by a senior figure. The kids were more then just classified as these different eye color people they actually believed what the teacher had told them was true. It is truly astonishing how easy and quickly people turned against each other. I think that this is a very important concept and method that should be administered at a young age. As a young adult I see discrimination and racism everywhere still and it makes me wonder what the world would be like if this method was used in every classroom around America how would society be different now how would it change the education system?

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Trey

2/12/2014 02:21:40 pm

Wonder
This video made me wonder how a thought about a "different" person comes about. The video some what answered that by having the teacher put a thought into the students brain. The students had a choice to listen or reuse to listen, they chose to listen. This made sense, they were only 3rd graders and didn't have the best of reasoning. On the other hand they had a fresh start on life. Their was no one to drill into their heads what was right and wrong. The way they changed in a matter of minutes, based on something someone said was amazing. The kids turned into animals. After the experiment they went right back to being friends, like nothing happened. It is amazing to see how the brain works.

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Jessica Boensch

2/12/2014 02:22:36 pm

I couldn't believe how quickly people turned on one another when they were put in a position of power. The fact that so many who had been friends just minutes earlier, were suddenly bullying each other. What really struck me, however, was the lasting impact that this lesson had on the class. I personally can't remember a single thing about the third grade and the fact that this lesson stuck with them throughout their adult life is incredible to me. It really shows that it is a lesson that ought to be taught by schools everywhere.

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Hayes Sherr

2/12/2014 02:22:50 pm

I think this video can really put a point across about racism and how people act towards it. The way that this teacher taught these kids about whites hating blacks was a great idea because it shows how bad it would feel to be an African American. This video showed both sides of the blue eyes and brown eyes and how it felt to be on the good and the bad side. I think most people should be taught this way because it really helps visually and you kind of get a taste of what it feels like. As I was watching this video, I thought to myself why these kids were becoming the racist ones but towards eye color. They really started hating the other kids with different eye color and once the teacher said that it wasn't real, they all became friends again. Everyone that's watches this should think to themselves and remember how good of a life they have now and shouldn't take it for granted.

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Julz Valencia

2/12/2014 02:30:48 pm

I think, that it was very interesting to see all the kids initial reactions. How most kids were just sort of listening and doing what there were told but then there was the boy who right away said that brown eyed people aren't any different. Although the boy couldn't really explain why he thought that both eye colors were equal, it was like he had a gut feeling and he knew that people with brown eyes were no different from those with blue eyes.

I feel like after the second day when she was finished giving the lesson on discrimination and she was asking the kids if anything was different abut people with darker skin and they replied no, and then she pointed out that they should not just think this within her classroom but even when they are just out and about living their lives they should still not think any differently. I feel like this concept really stuck with the kids because years later as they all sat in a circle they discussed it and gave examples of times when they were in a situation where they may have discriminated against someone and then remembered the lesson and immediately changed their thoughts.

I wonder wether this lesson should be taught in every school to every student. I know that when your going through the lesson as the person being discriminated against it isn't very fun, but I think after the matter you will see the ultimate benefit of the lesson, just as the kids in the video had.

Wonder: I wonder what would happen if she did this experiment with high school students instead of 3rd grade students. How would they react to this?
Think: I thought this video was very interesting to teach young children about racism in a creative way. I thought how the students mind set were changed by thinking they were superior than others. I thought it was amazing how the teacher came up with the whole idea of people who were discriminated because its hard for most people to look in a different perspective to something that is not happening to them. And how she took chance on something new and different.
Feel: I felt inspiration because she was different and most people these days aren't different. And I can feel like I can be different in my own way and try something different.

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Paris Gramann

2/12/2014 02:42:03 pm

Wow Ashley! Great insight. I would like to see this experiment in high school students as well.. I didn't even think about that. Also, I loved that you mentioned how she was different and not many people are "different" today. What made her be able to be different? Like what in her mindset? Why was she unafraid to try something new? Why didn't anyone stop her if this was so different?

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Paris Gramann

2/12/2014 02:39:26 pm

Think Feel Wonder

I saw this in 8th grade, and it still amazes me today. I think that it is beautiful that this teacher saw that a change needed to be implemented into these children's minds. It was wonderful that she had the heart and the guts to carry out this activity. This makes me think that the best way to teach a person morals is at a young age, at a time when all slates are clean.

The video and concept makes me feel thoughtful. It makes me feel happy. And it makes me feel sad. I feel thoughtful because I have to question myself and make sure that even if I don't SAY discriminatory things, that I will never even THINK discriminatory things. It makes me want to question what was taught to people who think that way... And how can we change everyone's mindset? It makes me feel sad that people actually think in the way of discrimination and that people were treated badly and discriminated against. Also, it makes me feel sad that it took the children having to be discriminated against to make a point to them. Harsh times.

This makes me wonder what the root of discrimination is. Where does it come from? Human nature I'm sure... but what specifically? Having to be superior? Having to have an enemy? What?

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Lisa Valtierra

2/12/2014 02:52:30 pm

I love the questions that you wrote at the end because those are the same ones that were running through my mind.

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Jordan Garcia

2/12/2014 02:50:42 pm

I feel that this women did a good job with letting her students know that they are no different than anybody else with a different color skin. Even though they were 3rd graders, she didn't not ease off. She was very concrete and you can see in the kids faces that they were miserable. It really struck me how superior these kids felt when they got the collar taken off because it affected their ability to do well on certain activities. Even fourteen years later, one of them stated that it felt like you were a king and if anybody did anything to you, this was their chance to get back at them. They felt this way because a stupid collar made the opposite color feel like they were less than everybody else. They felt like dogs on leashes and completely forgot the friendship that they shared with their best friends before the rules applied. As I watch these kids have privileges, I recognize a huge relation with whites and blacks in the society around that time. I also wonder how much African Americans could have contributed if they were never discriminated against. They would have a much better mindset and could have possibly accomplished their goals at a higher level. If a collar can turn people against one another, imagine what a law can do.

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John E.

2/12/2014 02:51:57 pm

I feel that this experiment was very interesting and cool to see. I feel that if you were to try this on kids any older than third graders they would not be as vulnerable and not have much of an impact on them as it did these kids. It was really cool to see that this experiment had an impact on the kids as they grew up to become an adult. They know how the discrimination feels and can pass on the way they feel to their kids and to future generations. I feel that if this experiment were to be implemented into school in current day society it would have an equal impact on students to not be prejudice and treat everyone equal. If we were to successfully add this into education future generations would eventually learn to treat everyone equal and fair.

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Halee Robinson

2/12/2014 03:21:36 pm

I have seen this video several times before, and what always struck me was the instant attitude change of the children. The blue eyes children immediately turned their back on their brown eyed friends, simply because they were told that they were superior. It actually makes me think back to the Germans who so suddenly abandoned their Jewish friends.
These kids experienced both superiority and inferiority, and I think it's important that they experienced both. Feeling that they were better than their peers, they made rude remarks, and turned pretty vicious. But it was because they thought that was suddenly okay. Then once they had experienced inferiority, they realized how much those same remarks hurt. It was important that they knew what superiority felt like, so that in the future they would be able to recognize it

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Alex Demos

2/12/2014 04:07:32 pm

Although this is my second time watching this, I felt this video represented itself with a much more powerful meaning to me than it did the first time (mostly because I cannot remember how I felt about it the first time). I thought about how incredibly simple it was to completely flip each of the children's personalities toward each other, and how each child would act against one another after just a few hours of instruction from their teacher. I found it interesting that between each of the two days, both eye colors had the chance of having power over another, giving a different outlook for every child. It intrigued me to find how much of an influence that lesson had on each of the children, even after fourteen years. When each of the students gathered at the reunion, they shared about how their views on the people who had been discriminated on changed after experiencing through their own eyes what it would was like to be one of them. I feel this technique was very risky, yet very useful at the same time.

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Scott B

2/12/2014 04:33:15 pm

Having seen this series of videos, the one thing that I always remember is that the students nearly instantly believe that they are infinitely superior than their fellow students just simply on the basis that their eye color is different. but the one thing that really struck me this time was how casual they were tossing around racial slang, especially for their age. Another thing that was odd to me was when the teacher admitted herself that because of her eye color, the day was horrible for her too, to make it even more believable to the students. I wonder how students in present day would react and interact with others, especially after all the civil rights movements. Even though racism really originated back when Europe imported "true" Africans, why they felt the need to have such harsh discrimination. The only real reason i could think of is a sort of "competition" or food chain, where the white people have a "need" to feel superior to others of different skin, or different anything for the matter. Either way, I thought this was a very pivotal point in the students lives that needed to be taught to them through "trial by fire."

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John L.

2/12/2014 05:22:51 pm

This is a very strange way to teach a life lesson. But this seemed very effective if it can change the youths of tomorrow to know that all are equal and should be treated that way. This is a great way to show how segregation can cause this division and can bring the sense of superior and inferior. Then the tragic loss of their hero of the month MLKJ was sad to have someone that this small class looked up to go away leaving a people segregated with only a few brave to stand up. But those few brave are growing from teachers like her.

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Parmida Z.

2/12/2014 06:01:09 pm

When I was watching the videos, I wondered if schools today would teach such a lesson like they did. Since I wasn't raised in the U.S throughout my elementary years, I didn't come across similar sort of discrimination. I actually remember being thought the exact opposite through our morning exercises. I don't remember exactly which year this was but I remember the principle of our school shouting "death come to America" or some other horrible literal translation of what she said, and the students would repeat with their fists in the air. I always stood against it and built a since of hatred towards the people who would say that. I have had family living/from all of the world so I never understood why they had done that but it made me want to not be like any of them. I feel like at this day and age, we have come to a point where we accept one another aside from our differences and I believe a great part of our understanding comes from those who in the past have stood against the discrimination.

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Chelsea

2/12/2014 11:03:12 pm

I think the way the teacher taught her class about discrimination was an excellent example, especially for these young children. It was interesting to see how the minds of these children changed so quickly. They wen’t from being friendly to becoming judgmental, just because of what the teacher said. All these blue eyed people felt superior, but the next day things changed and they felt like minorities. I think this test was a great example because these children got to experience both sides, instead of just one. To be able to feel what colored people felt and had to go through. I think this teacher felt passionate about this topic, which is why she had no trouble doing this activity, she looked comfortable. I wonder how the parents of the children felt after knowing what the teacher put their children through. Did it change their way of thinking as well? Did they feel bad, or get mad because they teacher was trying to show equality?

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Ryan Novak

2/12/2014 11:31:23 pm

I have always found thid experiment to be super interesting and I really admire Jane Elliots courage in doing it, even though there was most definitely the potential for an angry backlash. It taught us a lot about human nature and how easy it is to self justify actions when you are treated differently but what really struck me were the two notecard tests. On the first day the blue eyed students, who had been showered with praise all day, finished the notecards in record time while it took the brown eyed students a whole six minutes to do the exercise. On the second day when the roles were reversed the brown eyed student cut their time down to only two minutes while the blue eyed students didn't do nearly as well. I think this is a really important lesson in self esteem and teaching strategies. When the self esteem of the students was exceptionally high, they were performing in the classroom exponentially better than when they were down on themselves. If teachers and sports coaches impement the strategies of encouragement and raising a kid up instead of bringing him down, we will have much more successful students and atheletes.

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Adrian Schnepp

2/12/2014 11:34:23 pm

I actually had the joy of watching this little segment previously, in Ms. Kali's class in 9th grade, and was once again astounded at the speed with which the class was at war with itself, how quickly it embraced these twisted ideologies with just a quick brush of outside influence. People may put this down to them being mere children, impressionable and naive, but I think the truth is deeper than that. They are impressionable, yes, which is the primary reason why an experiment like this needed to be conducted, because this is the age when racism and bigotry begin to set in, leaking in from the teachings of their parents. With an early exposure to being on the receiving end of the discrimination, hopefully a sense of empathy would be instilled in those children, and an ability to sympathize with the plight of those oppressed by society.

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Chris Dang

2/13/2014 02:06:49 am

I have always thought about trying something like this and I guess lots of others have too. I really admire Jane Elliot trying this in her class even though there was potential for backlash the whole time. I hope the students have learned something too. Now they can go out and teach their own kids about what they learn and maybe, in 50 years, there will be very, very, very, very little discrimination in the world. Even better, there will be no discrimination at all.

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Jessica Pollock

2/13/2014 02:28:36 am

I have seen this video before in class. After seeing it again I still thought, felt, and wondered about the same things. My first reaction was I thought that this teacher took a big risk in doing an experiment like this with such young kids. However, after thinking about it for a while I came to the conclusion that they were at the perfect age. Being the age they were they probably didn't know much about racism. They were too young to be worrying about that. This experiment gave them a real life situation where it effected them and gave them the perspective of what goes on in the "real world."
I feel like it would be interesting to do an experiment like this in class. I remember when I was in 9th grade we were given a quiz in class. The quiz looked normal at first but then I started to find out what was going on. All the girls in the class received their test in French. The teacher also wouldn't help any of the girls even if their hands were up. The guys test was in English and they received help when they needed it. This activity showed sexism and how boys were treated better than girls in schools.
I wonder if other schools have done activities like this. I wonder if there are other activities teachers can do to put us students in perspective of events that happened in history.

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Justin Walker

2/13/2014 03:16:37 am

This particular method of teaching, while inventive, definitely gives rise to the atrocious nature of mankind. Not understanding concepts which are oft considered "deep" such as racism and whatnot contributed to this further. From a personal standpoint, a question I had was if such beliefs were ingrained in human nature. Do we naturally wish to discriminate? I believe the answer has to be a resounding "yes".

A while back, I viewed a documentary by NOVA which primarily concerned child behavior. At a young age, children often would not wish to associate with children who were not similar to them; when tested with two white and a single black infant, the two white ones shunned the black one. With this in mind, I feel that it is of importance to teach the necessity of keeping an open mind when dealing with people who are different.

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Sabrina

2/13/2014 04:19:20 am

This film made me wonder how much hidden racism is in our society, that we might not even realize. Also there is this idea, that even if racism is in an environment and one doesn't care do we notice it and not act upon what we see.These questioned went through my mind during this video, as long as connections to our classes here at HTHNC. Because teachers have smaller class sizes, they are able to work more one on one with students, making us as students feel more cared about. In my experience, this encourages students to perform better because they feel more comfortable. I also connected this to the talk we had with Jessie's mom about how fear keeps a person from performing their best. Could fear in the class room have the same effect? If one feels less appreciated then they would have a fear of messing up or being wrong. In this growing time, wrong ideas usually lead to great things so having a loving, educational environment is key in developing future educators and creators. I really enjoyed seeing this film again.

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Grady Gumner

2/18/2014 11:34:52 am

Having seen this documentary several times now, I see it differently every time. What really struck me was the fact that these innocent children could be distilled with so much discrimination and hatred within one school day. It really goes to show how children look up to the way their elders act. The only way discrimination has been passed along generation after generation is through parents preaching their hateful views to their children. I think if these discriminatory views weren't passed along to the next generation, discrimination towards others would simply die off. As Oprah once said about racists, "they just have to die". Discrimination and hatred isn't born in people, it is passed along from older generations. It is for this reason that THIS generation has the power to not spread such views and end racism.

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